Tag: statistics

BMC Oral Health. 2022 Sep 19;22(1):410. doi: 10.1186/s12903-022-02446-1.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Stroke patients have poor oral hygiene, experience oral dysfunction due to disease factors, and have impaired oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). This study aimed to determine the oral health knowledge, attitudes, and practices of stroke inpatients, assess the OHRQoL of these patients, and identify their correlates.

METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 281 stroke inpatients aged between 22 and 88 years (57.94 ± 10.94) were conveniently selected from three hospitals in Guangzhou, China. OHRQoL was measured among these stroke patients using a Chinese version of the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14). SPSS 26.0 was used for statistical analysis. Mean scores, standard deviations, and frequency distributions were obtained. The Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal‒Wallis H test, Spearman’s correlation, and multiple linear regression were used in the analysis.

RESULTS: The mean score of the patients’ OHRQoL was 8.37 ± 6.67, with the highest score in the pain or discomfort of the mouth dimension (3.11 ± 2.13) and pain being the most common negative effect (13.5%). In multiple linear regression analysis, significant differences were found between patients only in age (P = 0.008), toothache (P < 0.001), self-rated oral health (P < 0.001), time since last dentist visit (P = 0.037) and reason for not having visited a dentist in the past year (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: The OHRQoL of patients hospitalised with stroke was moderate, and oral conditions still need to be improved. Increasing age, toothache, a longer time since the last dental visit and the reason for not visiting a dentist in the past year had a negative effect on OHRQoL, and better self-rated oral health had a positive effect. Therefore, in clinical work, greater attention should be given to elderly stroke patients, patients with poor oral status and poor oral health behaviours, timely assessment of patients’ swallowing function, nutritional function, and self-care ability, and early and targeted oral health interventions and guidance.

PMID:36123656 | DOI:10.1186/s12903-022-02446-1

BMC Bioinformatics. 2022 Sep 19;23(1):382. doi: 10.1186/s12859-022-04913-6.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is currently one of the cancers with a higher mortality rate in the world. The biological research on anti-breast cancer drugs focuses on the activity of estrogen receptors alpha (ER[Formula: see text]), the pharmacokinetic properties and the safety of the compounds, which, however, is an expensive and time-consuming process. Developments of deep learning bring potential to efficiently facilitate the candidate drug selection against breast cancer.

METHODS: In this paper, we propose an Anti-Breast Cancer Drug selection method utilizing Gated Graph Neural Networks (ABCD-GGNN) to topologically enhance the molecular representation of candidate drugs. By constructing atom-level graphs through atomic descriptors for each distinct compound, ABCD-GGNN can topologically learn both the implicit structure and substructure characteristics of a candidate drug and then integrate the representation with explicit discrete molecular descriptors to generate a molecule-level representation. As a result, the representation of ABCD-GGNN can inductively predict the ER[Formula: see text], the pharmacokinetic properties and the safety of each candidate drug. Finally, we design a ranking operator whose inputs are the predicted properties so as to statistically select the appropriate drugs against breast cancer.

RESULTS: Extensive experiments conducted on our collected anti-breast cancer candidate drug dataset demonstrate that our proposed method outperform all the other representative methods in the tasks of predicting ER[Formula: see text], and the pharmacokinetic properties and safety of the compounds. Extended result analysis demonstrates the efficiency and biological rationality of the operator we design to calculate the candidate drug ranking from the predicted properties.

CONCLUSION: In this paper, we propose the ABCD-GGNN representation method to efficiently integrate the topological structure and substructure features of the molecules with the discrete molecular descriptors. With a ranking operator applied, the predicted properties efficiently facilitate the candidate drug selection against breast cancer.

PMID:36123643 | DOI:10.1186/s12859-022-04913-6

BMC Med Res Methodol. 2022 Sep 19;22(1):242. doi: 10.1186/s12874-022-01723-5.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: A sample size justification is required for all studies and should give the minimum number of subjects to be recruited for the study to achieve its primary objective. The aim of this review is to describe sample sizes from agreement studies with continuous or categorical endpoints and different methods of assessing agreement, and to determine whether sample size justification was provided.

METHODS: Data were gathered from the PubMed repository with a time interval of 28^th September 2018 to 28^th September 2020. The search returned 5257 studies of which 82 studies were eligible for final assessment after duplicates and ineligible studies were excluded.

RESULTS: We observed a wide range of sample sizes. Forty-six studies (56%) used a continuous outcome measure, 28 (34%) used categorical and eight (10%) used both. Median sample sizes were 50 (IQR 25 to 100) for continuous endpoints and 119 (IQR 50 to 271) for categorical endpoints. Bland-Altman limits of agreement (median sample size 65; IQR 35 to 124) were the most common method of statistical analysis for continuous variables and Kappa coefficients for categorical variables (median sample size 71; IQR 50 to 233). Of the 82 studies assessed, only 27 (33%) gave justification for their sample size.

CONCLUSIONS: Despite the importance of a sample size justification, we found that two-thirds of agreement studies did not provide one. We recommend that all agreement studies provide rationale for their sample size even if they do not include a formal sample size calculation.

PMID:36123642 | DOI:10.1186/s12874-022-01723-5

Rev Esc Enferm USP. 2022 Sep 19;56:e20220006. doi: 10.1590/1980-220X-REEUSP-2022-0006en. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate mental health promotion software for students in the early years of undergraduate nursing course.

METHOD: Descriptive study developed with 41 undergraduates from a private higher education institution in an inland city of the state of São Paulo, approved by the Research Ethics Committee. Data collection was carried out remotely from April to October 2021, using a sociodemographic characterization questionnaire and student assessment of the software. The results were analyzed by descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: Most respondents rated the tool and the clarity of its content as excellent. The modules considered most relevant were those related to solving problems with future implications. The students considered the advice very applicable to everyday life and a good correspondence between problem situations and real life.

CONCLUSION: This type of intervention is configured as one more option in the list of strategies to promote nursing students’ mental health, although it does not replace face-to-face care.

PMID:36122361 | DOI:10.1590/1980-220X-REEUSP-2022-0006en

J Cogn Neurosci. 2022 Sep 14:1-30. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_01916. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Previous research shows that, within human occipito-temporal cortex (OTC), we can use a general linear mapping function to link visual object responses across nonidentity feature changes, including Euclidean features (e.g., position and size) and non-Euclidean features (e.g., image statistics and spatial frequency). Although the learned mapping is capable of predicting responses of objects not included in training, these predictions are better for categories included than those not included in training. These findings demonstrate a near-orthogonal representation of object identity and nonidentity features throughout human OTC. Here, we extended these findings to examine the mapping across both Euclidean and non-Euclidean feature changes in human posterior parietal cortex (PPC), including functionally defined regions in inferior and superior intraparietal sulcus. We additionally examined responses in five convolutional neural networks (CNNs) pretrained with object classification, as CNNs are considered as the current best model of the primate ventral visual system. We separately compared results from PPC and CNNs with those of OTC. We found that a linear mapping function could successfully link object responses in different states of nonidentity transformations in human PPC and CNNs for both Euclidean and non-Euclidean features. Overall, we found that object identity and nonidentity features are represented in a near-orthogonal, rather than complete-orthogonal, manner in PPC and CNNs, just like they do in OTC. Meanwhile, some differences existed among OTC, PPC, and CNNs. These results demonstrate the similarities and differences in how visual object information across an identity-preserving image transformation may be represented in OTC, PPC, and CNNs.

PMID:36122358 | DOI:10.1162/jocn_a_01916

Pain Physician. 2022 Sep;25(6):E851-E856.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Chronic foot pain (CFP) is a widespread condition worldwide; however, few studies that relate CFP and foot health-related quality of life have been reported.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe the impact of foot health and health in general in a sample of adult people with CFP compared with a control group.

STUDY DESIGN: This study was designed as a retrospective case-control study.

SETTING: Podiatric section of a care center.

METHODS: Two hundred adults were included in the study. Patients were divided into CFP patient (n = 100) and control groups (n = 100). All of them regularly attended a private podiatric clinic to take care of their foot health. Self-reported data and medical histories for people with and without CFP were evaluated. All findings were compared with quality of life (QoL) scores based on the Foot Health Status Questionnaire, Spanish version.

RESULTS: Adults with CFP (compared to the control group) showed reductions in QoL linked to overall health and foot health in particular and were statistically significant with respect to several domains: (1) foot pain, (2) foot function, (3) general health, and (4) physical activity. These differ-ences were evaluated with a t-test for independent samples, and statistical significance was consid-ered a P value of P < 0.05.

LIMITATIONS: The study was not a randomized controlled trial. Although primary outcome data were self-reported, the assessor was not blinded.

CONCLUSIONS: CFP patients, regardless of gender, recorded a negative influence on QoL-related foot health that seems to be linked with the presence of this chronic condition.

PMID:36122268

Pain Physician. 2022 Sep;25(6):E831-E840.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic disease, with no effective treatments for this disorder. The origin is suspected to be a misprocessing of signals in the central nervous system. One of the experimental treatments is very low intensity transcranial magnetic stimulation (LITMS) used to perform central neuromodulation.

OBJECTIVES: The main objective was to characterize the differences in oscillatory brain processing before and after LITMS in FM and compare the results with healthy controls.

STUDY DESIGN: This is an interventional study with control group, which shows how the treatment with LITMS could modify brain oscillatory activity and be useful for the improvement of symptoms in FM patients.

METHODS: Thirty-three women with FM and 14 healthy controls are studied using magnetoencephalography recording, and mechanical stimuli are applied before and after treatment with transcranial magnetic stimulation. Changes in different brain areas and a specific brain frequency are studied, and the results are analyzed within and between patients, before and after treatment.

RESULTS: In the FM group, an increase in alpha brain oscillatory activity was observed mainly in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFS), and more pronounced in the left hemisphere (P = 0.03). In addition, there was a significant improvement in the FM impact questionnaire in the patients (P < 0.01). When comparing patients with controls, it is observed that the differences in alpha frequency in this brain area disappear between groups.

LIMITATIONS: Age difference between patients and controls. Replicating the long-term results.

CONCLUSIONS: This treatment improves the patients’ symptomatology, and also produces statistical changes in alpha brain activity in the DLPFS. Furthermore, a normalization was observed in this frequency and in this area, similar to that of the controls.

PMID:36122266

Pain Physician. 2022 Sep;25(6):E805-E813.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) is an effective treatment for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCF). Comparisons of different approaches have previously focused primarily on x-rays. Three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) enables better imaging evaluation of bone cement distribution.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the CT imaging parameters and clinical efficacies of unilateral and bilateral PKP.

STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective, nonrandomized controlled study.

SETTING: Department of Orthopedics from an affiliated hospital.

METHODS: Seventy-two single-level OVCF patients who underwent 3D CT between 2018 and 2020 were evaluated prospectively. All patients underwent PKP and were assigned to 2 groups: unilateral PKP and bilateral PKP. Imaging outcomes were assessed by determining the cement volume, leakage, dispersion index, vertebral height (VH) and the cement volume of the noninjected and injected sides. Clinical outcomes were evaluated using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The correlations between the bone cement volume or dispersion index and the VAS, VH improvement rate (VHIR), or bone cement leakage were also evaluated.

RESULTS: The mean follow-up time was 17.1 months. The postoperative VH and VAS in both groups were significantly improved (P < 0.05). However, there were no statistically significant differences in the cement volume, leakage or dispersion index, VH, or VAS between the 2 groups. No statistically significant differences in the cement volume or VH were found between the noninjected and injected sides within the unilateral group. The operative time was significantly shorter in the patients who underwent unilateral PKP. Unilateral PKP in which the bone cement did not cross the midline had a higher VAS compared with bilateral PKP. Both the bone cement volume and dispersion index displayed a positive correlation with the VHIR, but no correlation with the VAS or bone cement leakage.

LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by the nonrandomized design, small sample size, and short follow-up period.

CONCLUSIONS: While unilateral PKP was as effective as bilateral PKP, it had a shorter operation time. However, the bilateral PKP approach might be followed when bone cement is distributed in only one side following the unilateral PKP procedure.

PMID:36122263

Pain Physician. 2022 Sep;25(6):E795-E803.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Anesthesiologists are always looking for a regional analgesic technique which is easy, safe, has a low complication rate, and provides satisfactory analgesia. A retrolaminar block is a recent modified paravertebral technique for analgesia in thoracoabdominal procedures with a local anesthetic injected at the retrolaminar site. It has the advantage of being safe and easy compared with traditional thoracic epidural analgesia but is still under investigation.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare ultrasound-guided bilateral retrolaminar block with ultrasound-guided thoracic epidural analgesia for pain relief after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

STUDY DESIGN: A prospective randomized double-blinded clinical study.

SETTING: Academic University Hospitals.

METHODS: Fifty-two adult patients were randomly allocated into 2 equal groups at the end of the surgery: Group R (n = 26) received a bilateral ultrasound-guided retrolaminar block with 20 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine and 5 µg/mL adrenaline (1:200000) in each side. Group T (n = 26) received ultrasound-guided thoracic epidural analgesia with 20 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine and 5 µg/mL adrenaline (1:200000).

RESULTS: The Numeric Rating Scale scores both at rest and during cough were statistically significantly lower in Group R compared with Group T at 30 minutes and one hour postoperatively. The pain scores were statistically significantly lower for about 4 hours in Group R group compared with 6 hours in Group T. The time for the first call of nalbuphine was highly statistically significantly shorter in Group R group (233.04 ± 5.27 minutes) compared with Group T (353.77 ± 5.16 minutes) (mean difference -120.37, (95% CI, -123.6 to -117.8) P < 0.001. The total amount of nalbuphine consumption in the first 12 hours was statistically significantly decreased in Group T (17.31 ± 5.52 mg) compared with Group R (27.69 ± 5.52 mg) (Mean difference 10.4, 95% CI 7.3-13.5), P < 0.001. The total number of patients who developed nausea and vomiting were statistically significantly greater in Group T (9 patients) compared with Group R group (3 patients), P = 0.04. Moreover, hypotension was statistically significantly more common among patients in Group T group (10 patients) compared with Group R (3 patients), P = 0.025. Both groups were comparable regarding patient satisfaction.

LIMITATIONS: There is limited literature in the field of the present study and sensory dermatome assessment, but this does not affect the results as we used an ultrasound-guided technique.

CONCLUSIONS: A single injection retrolaminar block provides adequate postoperative pain relief for about 4 hours compared with a single shot thoracic epidural that lasts about 6 hours. Patient satisfaction with both techniques was the same; about two-thirds of the patients were satisfied or very satisfied with either block.

PMID:36122260